Formidine Rift... what is it?

Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.
While most people say that dark systems were planned, but are not implemented, it seems that at the same time Raxxla, which is supposed to be a dark system, is in the game:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=210928&highlight=dark+systems
I don't know what to believe...
It has been discussed a few times, but until now nobody could give any proof that dark systems are in-game. Another thing is what FD considers as dark systems though...

Raxxla is not supposed to be a dark system, but a rogue planet. A planet without a sun, not tied to any orbit apart of Sag A* (yes, I know that you could just call it dark system...). Raxxla is supposed to be in-game, although it is very unclear how it would be depicted. There have been theories that you would need to mis-jump (not implemented either yet) to reach such a body.

Rogue planets are already in in a very specific way though. There are planets in systems already that can be considered rogue. Every time you see a planet in system map to which the line does not begin at a star, but is instead bound to an 'X', that planet is not orbiting any sun and is thus a rogue planet, probably caught in the system or just passing by.

For Raxxla there are very different theories on how to reach it, but it is even more mysterious than the Formidine Rift, and there are even less clues about it. I have been searching for Raxxla since December 2014, and have tried almost anything, from following the story locations from the book, to searching ancient stars around our galaxy... It is for me the most intriguing mystery in the game, even by far greater than the Formidine Rift. I'm here in the Rift because I ran out of ideas on Raxxla...
 
It has been discussed a few times, but until now nobody could give any proof that dark systems are in-game. Another thing is what FD considers as dark systems though...

Raxxla is not supposed to be a dark system, but a rogue planet. A planet without a sun, not tied to any orbit apart of Sag A* (yes, I know that you could just call it dark system...). Raxxla is supposed to be in-game, although it is very unclear how it would be depicted. There have been theories that you would need to mis-jump (not implemented either yet) to reach such a body.

Rogue planets are already in in a very specific way though. There are planets in systems already that can be considered rogue. Every time you see a planet in system map to which the line does not begin at a star, but is instead bound to an 'X', that planet is not orbiting any sun and is thus a rogue planet, probably caught in the system or just passing by.

For Raxxla there are very different theories on how to reach it, but it is even more mysterious than the Formidine Rift, and there are even less clues about it. I have been searching for Raxxla since December 2014, and have tried almost anything, from following the story locations from the book, to searching ancient stars around our galaxy... It is for me the most intriguing mystery in the game, even by far greater than the Formidine Rift. I'm here in the Rift because I ran out of ideas on Raxxla...

Sounds like I need to read a bit about Raxxla as well. I'm still new to the lore side of Elite.
 
Raxxla is not supposed to be a dark system, but a rogue planet. A planet without a sun, not tied to any orbit apart of Sag A* (yes, I know that you could just call it dark system...). Raxxla is supposed to be in-game, although it is very unclear how it would be depicted. There have been theories that you would need to mis-jump (not implemented either yet) to reach such a body.

Where did you get this piece of info? I've never heard Raxxla referred to as a rogue planet. The closest "canon" description that I am aware of comes from The Dark Wheel and that says the Raxxla is actually in another galaxy...

Rogue planets are already in in a very specific way though. There are planets in systems already that can be considered rogue. Every time you see a planet in system map to which the line does not begin at a star, but is instead bound to an 'X', that planet is not orbiting any sun and is thus a rogue planet, probably caught in the system or just passing by.

I think you're wrong on this. Planets shown in the System view that are orbiting an 'X' are actually orbiting the barycenter of two or more stars in a multiple-star system. The best example of this is any binary system where the two stars are really close to each other. If the system does have planets then they wouldn't orbit only one of the stars, they would orbit the common center of mass between those two stars... and that is the "X" on the system map.
 
Sounds like I need to read a bit about Raxxla as well. I'm still new to the lore side of Elite.

I'm one of those suckers who, back in 1985, went system by system looking through all 8 galaxies in the original "Elite" expecting that it HAD to be somewhere. Still looking I guess...
 
With 400 billion systems, there's a lot of places to look.

The confirmation of the existence of Raxxla in-game.

There were considerably less systems to have to check back in 1985 when I was playing Elite on my Commodore 64: 8 galaxies with 256 systems each... only 2048! Unfortunately... Raxxla didn't exist in-game back then.

Then "Elite: Plus" came out for PCs... along with a ninth galaxy and... I was back on the hunt! But again... no Raxxla.

This time... this time we'll find it! Right?
 
Where did you get this piece of info? I've never heard Raxxla referred to as a rogue planet. The closest "canon" description that I am aware of comes from The Dark Wheel and that says the Raxxla is actually in another galaxy...
From http://www.drewwagar.com/progress-report/raxxla-the-definitive-guide/
"A fable as old as space travel itself, a mystery and an enigma: Raxxla. The very name causes conversation to cease, and meaningful glances to be exchanged.
The younger generation mocks it, until quelled by stern glares from their greybeard elders. Parents tell their offspring the story of a ghost planet, beyond witchspace, lost in the void. The name is interspersed throughout popular culture as a synonym for futility.
Pervading opinion suggests it is indeed a planet, but no one has ever seen it and lived to tell the tale. Its very existence is in doubt, its reputation spread only by hearsay via notorious borderland trading posts on the edge of inhabited space, far from civilisation.
Where there is any overlap in the reports that have come back, they seem to suggest Raxxla contains some kind of alien construct; a gateway or portal to… somewhere else. The nature of this device remains unclear.
A number of missions have been undertaken with the express purpose of locating Raxxla, some official, others less so. Some pundits have suggested Raxxla is guarded by a corps of ruthless, power crazed Elitists who will stop at nothing to preserve their anonymity.
A planet older than the Galaxy itself, a gateway to different dimensions or a power base for a clandestine group of Elite combateers; Raxxla remains as inexplicable as it is elusive."

and...

"Rafe chuckled and shook his head. ‘You see, that’s the big question. Your father was chasing the mythical planet Raxxla. Does it exist, or does it not? If it does, then on Raxxla there’s an alien construct that’s a gateway to other Universes, and all that’s in those Universes in the way of bounty, and treasures, and aliens, and life . . ."
It is the gateway to another galaxy, but Raxxla is in ours...



I think you're wrong on this. Planets shown in the System view that are orbiting an 'X' are actually orbiting the barycenter of two or more stars in a multiple-star system. The best example of this is any binary system where the two stars are really close to each other. If the system does have planets then they wouldn't orbit only one of the stars, they would orbit the common center of mass between those two stars... and that is the "X" on the system map.
You might be right on this. It was a possibility discussed in another thread.
 
Didn't the "Palin incident" suggest a connection to RAXXLA?
Dark clothed figures, lightning quick disposal of escorts and
a surgical kidnapping of the Doc?
Smells like a breadcrumb to the next step of the story,
hints to find the mistery.

Not necessarily a connection to Raxxla... but intriguing in either case!
 
There were considerably less systems to have to check back in 1985 when I was playing Elite on my Commodore 64: 8 galaxies with 256 systems each... only 2048! Unfortunately... Raxxla didn't exist in-game back then.

Then "Elite: Plus" came out for PCs... along with a ninth galaxy and... I was back on the hunt! But again... no Raxxla.

This time... this time we'll find it! Right?

Yes, Absolutely. Been hunting Raxxla since I became a tripple...
 
Sadly, those missions are all for Elite, which I'm not. I'm sure it can be found through other means though, as I doubt they'd lock any content behind ranks... By the way, didn't those missions stop appearing?

If they did stop appearing, then that is indicating
to their erratic nature.
Afaik FD said they would keep all non-working missions from spawning.
(Can't find evidence for it in the patch-notes though, 1,5 did bring multi-stage mishs in)

Still i think that the mystery RAXXLA will not be tied to ELITE rankings,
yet membership in the mysterious organization INRA might.

There were considerably less systems to have to check back in 1985 when I was playing Elite on my Commodore 64: 8 galaxies with 256 systems each... only 2048! Unfortunately... Raxxla didn't exist in-game back then.

Then "Elite: Plus" came out for PCs... along with a ninth galaxy and... I was back on the hunt! But again... no Raxxla.

This time... this time we'll find it! Right?


If we don't find it, we create it.
 
Last edited:
Sadly, those missions are all for Elite, which I'm not. I'm sure it can be found through other means though, as I doubt they'd lock any content behind ranks... By the way, didn't those missions stop appearing?

Yes, the missions dried out, and gave no further clues.
 
From http://www.drewwagar.com/progress-report/raxxla-the-definitive-guide/
"A fable as old as space travel itself, a mystery and an enigma: Raxxla. The very name causes conversation to cease, and meaningful glances to be exchanged.
The younger generation mocks it, until quelled by stern glares from their greybeard elders. Parents tell their offspring the story of a ghost planet, beyond witchspace, lost in the void. The name is interspersed throughout popular culture as a synonym for futility.
Pervading opinion suggests it is indeed a planet, but no one has ever seen it and lived to tell the tale. Its very existence is in doubt, its reputation spread only by hearsay via notorious borderland trading posts on the edge of inhabited space, far from civilisation.
Where there is any overlap in the reports that have come back, they seem to suggest Raxxla contains some kind of alien construct; a gateway or portal to… somewhere else. The nature of this device remains unclear.
A number of missions have been undertaken with the express purpose of locating Raxxla, some official, others less so. Some pundits have suggested Raxxla is guarded by a corps of ruthless, power crazed Elitists who will stop at nothing to preserve their anonymity.
A planet older than the Galaxy itself, a gateway to different dimensions or a power base for a clandestine group of Elite combateers; Raxxla remains as inexplicable as it is elusive."

and...

"Rafe chuckled and shook his head. ‘You see, that’s the big question. Your father was chasing the mythical planet Raxxla. Does it exist, or does it not? If it does, then on Raxxla there’s an alien construct that’s a gateway to other Universes, and all that’s in those Universes in the way of bounty, and treasures, and aliens, and life . . ."
It is the gateway to another galaxy, but Raxxla is in ours...



You might be right on this. It was a possibility discussed in another thread.

Which begs further questions. Drew has done some great work for this community... but just because something shows up on his website it does not become canon. Does the description of Raxxla as a "ghost planet... lost in the void" exist anywhere other than on his website? If not then we can't assume that the description actually applies to what exists in the game.

Meanwhile The Dark Wheel says, "Raxxla—if it exists—is in another Galaxy; you know the legends."

Of course, the original Elite had 8 galaxies... we players have been trying to figure out what happened to the other 7 ever since "Frontier: Elite 2" :)

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Yes, Absolutely. Been hunting Raxxla since I became a tripple...

I'm a long way from tripple myself. If I can just keep myself from clicking "clear game save" maybe one day I'll make it :)
 
Which begs further questions. Drew has done some great work for this community... but just because something shows up on his website it does not become canon. Does the description of Raxxla as a "ghost planet... lost in the void" exist anywhere other than on his website? If not then we can't assume that the description actually applies to what exists in the game.

Meanwhile The Dark Wheel says, "Raxxla—if it exists—is in another Galaxy; you know the legends."

Of course, the original Elite had 8 galaxies... we players have been trying to figure out what happened to the other 7 ever since "Frontier: Elite 2" :)
That's one of the problems with Raxxla. At the moment it's only assumptions... I take anything I find though...
 
That's one of the problems with Raxxla. At the moment it's only assumptions... I take anything I find though...

Not a problem... just another part of the mystery that needs to be unraveled. I think in one of Drew's non-canonical "oolite" stories Raxxla turned out to be hiding in plain sight and was... Lave's moon!
 
Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom